Holding On to Hurt

By: Charlotte Roth

Narrated by: Valerie Smaldone

IIrene Hurt's life is perfect, and she cherishes every moment with her son and her husband, until...the day she gets the call every mother dreads. Her son, Scottie is injured in a mass school shooting and is rushed to the ICU, where he's put into a medically induced coma to wait out his fate. Devastated, her husband pulls away and even tries to convince Irene to remove Scottie's life support, to save his son from a life of lesser existence. But, Irene refuses to give up hope.

On her journey through grief, denial, anger, and finally, acceptance, Irene discovers more about the events of that tragic day, the boy who shot her son and then took his own life, and the husband she thought she knew and could trust. Will Scottie pull through? Or, will Irene accept that sometimes, the best thing a mother can do for her child is let go?

Set in the darkest hours of winter in Seattle, Holding On to Hurt tells the gripping story of one mother's fight to keep her son alive, no matter what she has to sacrifice.

©2017 Charlotte Roth (P)2019 Charlotte Roth

Waiting for a miracle

What happens in a marriage when The most unthinkable happens. Irene and Bruce's love for each other is tested to the limit! This story is about how a marriage can slowly fall apart when one has no hope, and the other clings on to a miracle. Charlotte Roth wrote a emotional story of love, lies, regrets and loss, be prepared for a box of tissues. Valerie Smaldone narration has all the feels of everyones emotions in this audio. i received this audio in exchange for my honest review. #Audioobsessionreviewer

Emotional and real

Wow this was such a realistic, emotional read. It's the story of every mother's worst fear. It's about love and hope in a hopeless situation.

Irene has a great life, a loving husband and perfect son. One day, everything changes. There's a shooting at her son's school and he ends up in the hospital. We follow Irene as she holds on to hope and strength, struggling with her grief. I love how the story unfolded, I was completely pulled in to the story.

I enjoyed Valarie Smaldone's performance, it took me some time to become accustomed to her voice but she definitely won me over.

Emotional

This was a great read. It definitely puts you in the middle of a real fear that parents have. This story took you on an emotional ride of fear, love and hope.
The narrator did a good job with this story.

🎧AudiobookObsessionReviewer

Reality Hits The Heart!

Holding On To Hurt caught my eye with its eye catching cover. The synopsis of this novel portrays a gripping story of one mother's fight to keep her son alive, no matter what she has to sacrifice. It is exquisitely composed as a tribute to a school shooting. I enjoyed the titles for each chapter which reflects that chapter. A poignant novel that is a dynamic tear jerker. A riveting plot with compelling character's that are pragmatic. Author Charlotte Roth's writing style creates raw and real sentiment that is captured through out the listen. Not a romance in essence, it's a story of love and family.

Narator Valarie Smaldone was at first a bit difficult to get into her voice at the beginning but as I further listened to the audiobook I didn't mind it as much as she grew on me. She gave a compelling and intensely dramatic performance.

🎧 Audiobook Obsession 🎧

Difficult subject

Charlotte Roth writes about difficult subjects. This one definitely being heartbreaking. I honestly didn't care for the mother, Irene. Her husband, Bruce, is the one that pulled my heartstrings. There were several times I teared up. They're is a happy ending.

Valerie Smaldone did a good job with the female and young kids voices, but not as well with the teen boys and men's voices. She'd do wonderful with duet narration in audiobooks.

#AudiobookObsessionReviewer